This invention relates to a process for manufacturing colored hair, and colored hair thus manufactured. Such colored hair can be utilized as hair for implanting in a wig, or as hair to be joined to natural hair to thicken the hair on the head of a person who needs more hair. The colored hair of this type can also be utilized as false hair (as a hair accessory) applied with plural or various colors. A strand of hair may be, entirely or partly, applied with a color or colors, so that any degree of fashion may be enjoyed.
Generally, the colors or color shades(tones) of the hair on a person's head differ among individuals. The hair color of Orientals such as Japanese, Chinese, etc., has a basic shade of black. The color black itself varies from person to person ranging from dark black to various tones of blue, brown and red. On the other hand, the hair color of Caucasians such as Europeans and Americans exhibits a wider range of colors including black, such as blond, blue, red, etc. Also, regardless of a persons ethnic back ground, the color of a person's hair becomes darker (or deeper) at the scalp and lighter in color towards the tip. For this reason, hair materials used for wigs, hair-thickening members, and the like are preferably selected from the colors and color shades more closely matched with the hair on a person's head, in order to give a more natural look. This is also important from the view point that a wig on a person's head is not easily noticed.
Recently, it has become fashionable that the hair on a person's head as a whole is dyed in plural or various colors, or a part of the hair such as, for example, only the hair on the forehead portion and/or the side-head portion is applied with a different color or colors from the natural color of his/her own hair, or a portion of hair is applied with a different color or colors, or in a strand of hair, for example, a root portion of hair is applied with red, an intermediate portion, with brown, and so forth, so that a desired fashion of hair can be achieved. In such cases, if the attachment hair applied with plural or various colors could be used without the trouble of dyeing one's hair, the intended purpose could apparently be achieved more easily.
In general, the hair on a human head is so thin approximately 0.05 to 0.08 mm in diameter on average. For this reason, the hair material to be normally used in a wig or the hair thickening material, or the attachment hair for hair accessory is also as thin in diameter as human hair. In hair material such as this, it is commonly known that artificial hair can be obtained by processing such synthetic resin fiber as nylon, modacryl, polyester, and the like, as well as natural human hair. When these hair materials are dyed, difficulties are accompanied in applying a color or colors to such thin hair material approximately 0.05 to 0.08 mm in diameter in order to achieve the desired look, having a predetermined color and/or color shade in accordance with the desire of the individual. Moreover, it is absolutely necessary for such colored hair material not to be changed easily in color or not to fade easily even when exposed to the sun light or even when washed. In addition, the required minimum rigidity is necessary.
Difficulties are also encountered when a part of a single strand of hair material is applied with a different color or color shade from the rest. In addition, an excessively complicated procedure is needed for applying two or more different colors by dividing a single strand of hair material into two or more parts. The following steps are made in order to obtain desired color.
One example disclosed in the Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. 174683/89; artificial hair whose single strand of hair has different colors or color shades is obtained through a dipping process in which a part of hair material formed of colored synthetic fiber is dipped into a dyeing liquid having a different color or color shade from that of the hair material several times.
In another example disclosed in the Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. 67725/97; after a multifilament formed of a monofilament having a single yarn size of 5 to 100 denier is twisted at 200 times/m or less, regular loop-like crimps are applied therewith through a knitting/deknitting process, and then a knitting fabric on an intermediate stage of the knitting/deknitting process is intermittently applied with a color(s) in accordance with a space dyeing process and thereafter deknitted.
However, in the dipping technique discussed in the above Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. 174683/89, when only a part of the hair material is dyed, only that part to be dyed must be kept dipped in the dyeing liquid of a dyeing vessel for a predetermined time and special attention must be paid so that the rest of the hair material, not to be dyed, will not accidentally be dipped in the dyeing liquid. In this process, when, for example, a central portion of the hair material is to be dyed by 5 cm, only this part of the hair material must be dipped in the dyeing liquid of the dyeing vessel precisely for a predetermined time. Since it is required to correctly hold the hair material so that the part of the hair material, not to be dyed, will not accidentally be dipped in the dyeing liquid, the adjustment for precisely applying a color to the predetermined part of the hair material is difficult. Moreover, when various or plural colors or color shades are to be separately applied to the hair material, it becomes necessary to dip the determined part of the hair to be dyed into the dyeing color vessel whenever such an application is made, and therefore, the number of processes is increased. Thus, this dipping process is difficult to be applied in a case where partial coloring is required or where a single strand of hair is required to be applied with two or more colors or color shades.
In the example discussed in the above Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication (KOKAI) No. 67725/97, this technique cannot be applied to straight hair and the processes are complicated, since the employment of this technique is too difficult.
The present invention has been accomplished in order to solve the above problems inherent in the conventional techniques.